Banjo-Kazooie Spiritual Successor Exceeds Funding Target in Under an Hour

The Kickstarter campaign for the Banjo-Kazooie successor called Yooka-Laylee from a team of former Rare developers went live today, and it was a quick hit.

The 3D platformer needed only about 38 minutes to reach its funding target of £175,000, or about $265,000. At press time, more than 5,600 people have backed the campaign, which ends on June 16.

Yooka-Laylee was officially revealed yesterday. It's a "buddy-duo" game in the vein of Banjo-Kazooie, but instead of a bear and a bird, it stars a chameleon and a bat.

Now that the Yooka-Laylee page has gone live, we know quite a bit more about the game. First, it's now confirmed that Yooka can use his tongue as a grappling hook, while Laylee can fly, but only for a short period of time. Developer Playtonic also teases that there "may or may not be a move involving a giant fart bubble," which is in-line with the humorous tone developers say they are going for.

There are five worlds to explore, and players can even expand these levels by spending their collectibles, called Pagies. These are scattered throughout the world, on the ground and in the air. Also, hidden throughout the gameworlds are arcade machines, which offer mini-games based on "old-school gaming goodness." Beat these games and you'll be rewarded with Pagies.

Another gameplay element is the "Play Tonic" system. These tonics are gameplay modifiers that allow Yooka and Laylee to "run faster, hit harder, and fly further," among other things.

Yooka-Laylee will feature a soundtrack by David Wise and Grant Kirkhope, former Rare veterans known for their work on the Donkey Kong Country and Banjo-Kazooie franchises.

Now that Yooka-Laylee's funding goal has been met, the game will be released for PC, Mac, Linux, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and Wii U. The PC, Mac, and Linux versions are due to launch by October 2016, while the console editions may come later. Only if $1 million is raised will all versions ship at the same time. You can see a full list of stretch goals and more on Yooka-Laylee's Kickstarter page.

You can secure a copy of Yooka-Laylee by pledging at least $15. Backing at that level gets you a copy of the PC version, while you'll need to pay around $22 to get a console copy.